Quails in Patterned Spaces: Testing Gold Leaf

The time is just flying by... We've been here for two weeks already, and we have gotten a ton of work done.

Even though we came with a plan and had done some material testing, many challenges have come up as we've been working on the project. It's okay though because problem-solving is one of our favorite parts about making art. We've been thinking that our wall paper is a little too subtle, maybe it needs a little oomph! Julia suggested adding gold leaf to some of the square spaces in the wallpaper. We picked up some imitation gold leaf from an art supply store in Calgary on Friday and did some testing on scraps of paper. Gold leaf is super delicate, probably the thinnest solid material that I have ever used. It is also so lovely. After testing it on the paper we wanted to gold leaf our bodies. We even put it on a scrap piece of spray foam which instantly transformed that hideous material into something almost gorgeous. That may take a few more tries.

We plan to begin gold leafing wall paper tomorrow and then hanging it on the wall. We also purchased some acid-free linen tape in Calgary which we will use to reinforce the wallpaper so we can tack it up in our studio and later remove it to ship it home. We'll post photos when we get it installed. Check out photos of the imitation gold leaf tests below, and you'll see why we want to gold leaf everything.